A Moscow court found Russian dissident artist Pyotr Pavlensky guilty of vandalism today, Dimitri Kozlov of the Associated Press reports. The artist was convicted for setting fire to car tires on Saint Petersburg’s Tripartite Bridge during a pro-Ukraine performance, titled Freedom, in February 2014.

While the court sentenced Pavlensky to sixteen months in prison, the artist will not have to serve the time because the statue of limitations on the crime has expired. However, he remains in custody for a second case in which he is being tried for burning the doors of a former KGB building in November 2015.

A book published by popular Facebook aggregator page Amran Fans was banned by the Home Ministry today.

According to a Facebook posting today, the book titled #TheAmranFans was among three books banned this morning during a spot check at one of the booths at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair held in MAEPS, Serdang.

“To inform everybody, the new Amran book titled #TheAmranFans has just been banned by KDN. So the book would not be reprinted again after this,” the Facebook posting read referring to the Home Ministry by its Malay initials.

But the group said the book, priced at RM20, can still be ordered via WhatsApp.

It added that once stocks run out, there would be no more reprints.

The notice served to the booth operators by the Home Ministry stated that the three books sold there were banned under Section 7 of the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 for “harming morals” (memudaratkan kemoralan).

When contacted by Malay Mail Online, Amran Fans explained the banned book had no such intentions and actually poked fun at modern day love which usually is lust (maksiat) driven.

In recent months, incidents of Communist Party restrictions on free expression extending beyond China’s borders have occurred across Asia. Now South Korea, a leading democracy in the region, has joined this disturbing trend.

On May 4, a court in Seoul issued a last-minute ruling canceling a series of classical Chinese dance and music shows by Shen Yun Performing Arts, scheduled to take place at KBS Hall over the weekend. The ruling explicitly cites threats by the Chinese embassy aimed at the theater owner, including implicit references to financial reprisals if the shows go on as planned.

The mission of the New York–based performance group is to revive China’s five-millennia-old traditional culture, which has been largely destroyed under decades of Communist rule. Shen Yun’s performers practice Falun Gong, a meditation and spiritual discipline whose practitioners are persecuted in China today; some company members have themselves fled religious persecution or have family members imprisoned in China still.

Alongside dances portraying scenes from imperial dynasties and literary classics, some of the show’s pieces also depict the story of what Falun Gong practitioners face in China today or attacks on Buddhist temples during the Cultural Revolution. An overarching theme throughout the Shen Yun performance is the traditional Chinese concept of a connection between Heaven, Earth, and humankind.

The performance has been widely acclaimed and drawn millions of audience members, including celebrities, around the world. But it is these perspectives on Chinese history, culture, and spirituality that have put Shen Yun on the Chinese Communist Party’s target list.

KARACHI: Ashir Azeem’s action film Maalik, has been banned all across the country for almost 24 hours now. While this ban has led to a classic ‘freedom of expression’ vs ‘state control’ debate over social media, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has finally unveiled the reasons behind its ban.

Speaking with The Express Tribune, the chairman of CBFC, Mobashir Hasan said that the ban was a result of a request sent by the CBFC to the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage.

4 reasons ‘Maalik’ is the most absurd movie you’ll see this year

The CBFC compiled a situation report from all of the complaints it had received from all over Pakistan and sent it to the Ministry of Information. As per section 9 of 1979′s Film Ordinance, any certified film can be de-certified upon receiving public complaints even if it is currently running in the cinemas.

“We had received public complaints from all over Pakistan including places like Mardan and Peshawar,” Hasan told The Express Tribune. “People were threatening to burn down cinemas and other public properties so we proposed the information ministry to de-certify the film to avoid a major catastrophe and a law and order situation.

A German TV comic, Jan Boehmermann, has been placed under police protection after he read an obscene poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.A police spokesperson said a patrol car had been parked in front of his house.Mr Erdogan has filed a criminal complaint against the satirist in a case that has prompted a debate in Germany over freedom of speech.

On 6 April it emerged that Germany’s state prosecutor was investigating Böhmermann for violation of the little-used paragraph 103 of the criminal code, which concerns insulting organs or representatives of foreign states. At worst the comedian was facing a prison sentence of up to three years – though until the Turkish government filed its formal request for Böhmermann’s prosecution, few seemed to think that the case would go ahead. German prosecutors are investigating whether he broke a law against insulting foreign leaders.Public broadcaster ZDF announced earlier on Tuesday that his weekly satire programme would not go ahead this week because of the "vast amount of media reporting and the resulting focus on the programme and its presenter and they have removed they programme from its website.

A Jewish community theater in Miami, Florida has canceled the performance of a play about Israel because it displeased some of its members. Crossing Jerusalem, a play by the British playwright Julia Pascal about an Israeli family during the second intifada in the early 2000s, was canceled halfway through its two-week run at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center. Some locals had...

Director Hansal Mehta has been one of such name in the world of cinema who does not shy away from controversial topics. Together with writer Apurva Ansari, Hansal Mehta has created one of the most controversial movies of 2016 – Aligarh.

Ironically, one place where you cannot watch this movie is the city the movie gets its name from! Aligarh has been banned in Aligarh.

“Though the film was due to be released in one multiplex and five single-screen cinema houses, it has been postponed for the time being.”

The MillatBedariMuhim Committee (MBMC) has issued a memorandum and submitted it to Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Information and Broadcasting minister. The memorandum asks the minster to have the name of the movie changed.

MOSCOW: Russian investigators have altered the charge against a performance artist for torching the door of the FSB security service's headquarters from vandalism to "damaging a cultural heritage site," his lawyer said Tuesday.

Pyotr Pavlensky will still face up to three years in jail under the new charge, lawyer Dmitry Dinze told AFP. "The maximum sentence does not change."

The 32-year-old artist was detained in November after setting fire to the wooden door of the FSB's Moscow headquarters – the infamous Lubyanka building that used to house the Soviet-era KGB – in a performance called "Threat" to protest against state "terrorism" by the security services.

He was initially charged with "ideologically-motivated" vandalism, which also carries a maximum three-year jail sentence.

Pavlensky's previous radical performances have included nailing his scrotum to the cobbles of Red Square, sewing his lips together and wrapping himself in barbed wire.

KIEV, March 29. /TASS/. Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on Tuesday banned all Russian films made after January 1, 2014.A total of 237 lawmakers voted for the ban.More than 430 Russian films and TV series are already banned in Ukraine.The Ukrainian Culture Ministry has introduced a blacklist of 83 Russian and foreign actors, filmmakers, singers and other culture figures, whose presence in the country is undesirable, as they "threaten national security."The list includes French and Hollywood movie stars Gerard Depardieu and Steven Seagal, titled US-born boxer Roy Jones Jr., who was granted the Russian citizenship, Fred Durst, best known as founder and frontman of the Limp Bizkit band, Russian Oscar-winning filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov, and some Russian pop singers.The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture also compiled a whitelist of Russian cultural personalities who are supposed to be given maximum assistance inside the country.

On the 8th March 2016, two Sierra Leone filmmakers, Sheku Ngaojia and Alpha Sibbie, were arrested and charged for provoking fear, incitement and ethnic conflict with their film « Tribal War ». After their second appearance on the 18th March, where they pled guilty, the filmmakers were sentenced to one year imprisonment or the payment of a fine of 1,000, 000 leones each ($200 each). Further exhibition of the film has been prohibited. With the support of stakeholders such as the Sierra Leona Film Council and the African Film Consortium, the filmmakers were released after the payment of the fine.

Beijing (CNN)Chinese censors say television shows shouldn't include story lines involving gay relationships, plus other topics that "exaggerate the dark side of society," according to new guidelines.

The eight-page document on "vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content" posted on the website of the China Television Drama Production Industry Association, was dated December 31 but was widely reported in Chinese state media this week.

It comes after a popular same-sex drama "Addicted Heroin" was pulled from online video streaming websites last week, unleashing an uproar on social media. The show can now only be viewed on YouTube, which is blocked in China.

As well as homosexuality, the guidelines deemed extramarital affairs, one-night stands and underage love off limits.

A Hamburg court issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday banning re-publication of sections of a satirical poem by a German comedian mocking the Turkish president, saying they amounted to abuse and libel.

Comedian Jan Boehmermann recited a poem on television in March suggesting Recep Tayyip Erdogan engaged in bestiality and watched child pornography, prompting the Turkish leader to file a complaint with prosecutors that he had been insulted.

In a separate complaint, lawyers for Mr Erdogan also asked a court in Hamburg to ban re-publication of the poem.

In its injunction, which applies to the whole of Germany, the Hamburg court marked in red 18 of the poem's 24 verses, which it said were "abusive and defaming."

A Japanese artist who made a kayak modelled on her vagina has been found guilty of breaking the country’s obscenity laws, in a case that has invited widespread ridicule of attitudes towards images of female genitalia.

Megumi Igarashi, who works under the pseudonym Rokudenashiko – or good-for-nothing girl – was arrested in July 2014 after she distributed data that enabled recipients to make 3D prints of her vagina.

The 44-year-old was fined 400,000 yen (£2,575), half the penalty demanded by prosecutors, at the Tokyo district court on Monday after she was convicted of distributing “obscene” images. She was cleared of another charge of displaying similar material.

Igarashi distributed the data to help raise funds to create a kayak inspired by her genitalia she called “pussy boat”.

The case against Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli, who previously faced charges of hooliganism after being detained at Baku Haydar Aliyev International Airport on 30 March, has expanded to include charges of resisting the authorities with violence. Under article 315.1 of the criminal code, this is punishable by up to three years in prison.

The move came following an open letter Aylisli sent to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. In it, he points to the absurdity of the claim that a “78-year-old heart patient, a weak man” could assault a 35-year-old “stocky athlete”. The writer asked the president to intervene and remove the criminal case against him.

“Following [the letter], against all my expectations, my situation rapidly got worse,” Aylisli told Index on Censorship, referring to the new charges. “Also, a new vicious, libellous public campaign against me started in media,” he added.

In March, Aylisli was detained for 12 hours at the airport when he was due to participate in an Italian literary festival. He was accused of assaulting border guards and his travel documents were confiscated.

“Absurdly and illogically, this alleged incident of punching a border guard happened well after the plane departed and was later used by the border service as an explanation for denying the border crossing before the plane had left!” he told Index on Censorship.

Following the unauthorized release of the controversial movie Ana Wata ga Wata into market by owners of the movie after the state censorship board had publically banned the movie release, the board mobile court has invited three people to appear before it in respect to the unauthorized release of the movie.

Those invited by the court are the director of the movie, Ali Gumzak, the producer Abdulazeez Dan Small and the executive producer of the movie Nuhu Abdullahi. The trio will appear before magistrate Aminu Fagge at court 43 today.

It could be remembered that Kano State Censorship Board announced the ban on the movie, 'Ana Wata GA Wata' when it was about to be released to the market. The ban was announced by the Director-General of the board, Alhaji Isma'il Afakallah. saying that, the decision to ban the movie was in line with the commitment of the board to ensure that film makers conform to the rules and regulations of the industry's regulatory body, the state censorship board.

He said that the board banned the film because it discovered that the trailer released had caused a lot of uproar in the state and a lot of complains where raised on the movie adding that the content of the movie was against the religious and cultural values of the people of the state in particular and the North in general.

Film, Actors and Actresses Union, and Association of Movie Actors and Actresses have expressed support for actress Füsun Demirel who was dismissed from a tv-series following an interview she had given.

In the interview Demirel was asked if there is any role she wants to play, and she replied, “There are many. For instance, I would love to play the guerilla girls in those mountains. Maybe I will be mother or grandmother of a guerilla. I want to work and produce for the sake of liberation of women. I’ve dedicated my whole life to it, and I’ll continue till I die”.

Taking stern action against the Polish theatre group Alexander Jiereko, National School of Drama (NSD) authorities have banned its play ‘Sonka’, in the country, today. The step was taken following a row over its staging at Rabindra Mandap here on Friday evening, where an actress reportedly went ‘half-Monty’. While the actress went partially nude to do justice to her role, several women’s group in the state came up with demonstrations on the very next day, compelling the state culture and tourism minister Ashok Panda to take the matter to the notice of NSD.

According to Hasan, the film, which is being distributed by the Distribution Club in Pakistan, was initially viewed by a CBFC panel that had voted against the movie. Following the panel’s decision, the distributors appealed to have the film reviewed again, this time by the full board. “Even the full board did not clear the movie due to which its release in Pakistan has been blocked,” said Hasan.

According to Le Figaro and other sources, a popular Burundi comedian known as "Kigingi" was held by police for three days after poking fun at the president, his family said on Friday 1 April 2016.

Humorist and Buja FM radio host Alfred Aubin Mugenzi was arrested on Tuesday 31 March 2015 by Burundi's National Intelligence Service (known by its French acronym SNR) and charged with insulting President Pierre Nkurunziza.

He was apprehended at a hotel in Muramvya, 50km east of the capital, while on a promotional tour for a beer company.

Family members said the comedian was taken to the capital Bujumbura and "held in SNR dungeons" for three days before being released on Friday.

Rights groups have accused the SNR of torturing or simply disappearing suspects.

SNR officers told Mugenzi's family he was arrested over a skit he performed in neighbouring Rwanda last year, in which he lampooned football-mad Nkurunziza, showing him refusing to leave the pitch despite receiving two yellow cards - a reference to the president's refusal to stand down last year after two terms in office.

AMATEUR actors from a theatre ensemble of Ján Chalupka in Brezno (Banská Bystrica Region) were not allowed to finish their play titled “Kováči” (Blacksmiths) after the interference of the region’s governor Marian Kotleba, who was sitting in the auditorium.Kotleba reportedly did not like the expressions in the text.

The performance was ordered by the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region on the occasion of awarding teachers. The play describes the impact of war on ordinary people. The first signs of censorship occurred even before the performance as the office asked the actors to not use expressive and vulgar words. Vagadayová refused the request, saying she would not play under such circumstances. She thinks there were other things which the regional representatives did not like in the play.

Slovakia’s artists and theatres have shown solidarity to the amateur actors from the theatre ensemble of Ján Chalupka from Brezno who were not allowed to complete their play Kováči by Miloš Nikolić (Serbia) on March 14 in Banská Bystrica.

President Andrej Kiska also used his Facebook page to criticise the region’s statements, stating that the beauty and variety of art lies in everyone being freely allowed to choose what suits his taste. "But it is inadmissible that someone like Mr Kotleba from his position of power disrupts and bans form continuing a theatre performance – and even files a criminal complaint against theatre-makers for the contents of the piece" the president wrote. "This goes beyond the limits of a decent and free society", he added.

The Sameer Sippy-directed romantic drama, Ishq Forever has been banned by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in Pakistan.“The CBFC panel had reviewed the film and found the content to be objectionable,” chairperson of CBFC, Mobasher Hasan, told The Express Tribune.Sonam Kapoor-starrer Neerja suffered a similar fate recently. Even though the movie was not banned, it had its import authorisation certificate revoked by the commerce ministry of Pakistan.

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.